"Happy birthday."
She opened the box to find a small platinum brooch. They were not her usual choice for a piece of jewelry-she was much fonder of rings and necklaces-but as soon as she saw the simple piece, she knew why he'd given it to her, though he was not usually one to lavish her with fancy gifts.
"Where did you find this?" Carefully, she lifted the piece from the deep blue velvet casing, running the edge of a nail over the curve of the scrolled border.
"There was some market on Ferrick, apparently a big antiquities thing. State had some kinda side mission looking for looted pieces that I gave 'em a hand with. Most of it was tawdry crap, anyway, but this looked like the real deal."
"It is." There was a confounding amount of cheap knockoffs of Alderaanian jewelry, given that they were never particularly well-known as jewelers; their traditional styles ran to the minimalist. But there was a small fortune to be made in Alderaanian goods of any kind, so the financial incentive had encouraged many to either create knockoffs or pass off non-Alderaanian work as native.
Since the early days, Han had always brought her what he could find from Alderaan. He had an unerring sense of the genuine, perhaps from years of shady dealing of his own, and knew how to spot a fake a mile away. It had surprised her at first, but she'd never been opposed to the gifts-it was a safe, incremental progression in their slow courtship, and she treasured every bit of home she had. They were fewer and farther between these days, as most objects had made their way onto the markets in the years immediately following the Destruction, and perishable goods like food and alcohol were long past their expirations; only a small selection of fine wines remained drinkable. He'd found one of those a few years ago, and they'd put it away for their twenty-fifth anniversary.
She admired it for another moment before beginning to pin it on her lapel. Clucking her tongue, she struggled to get it straight, and he took over the task, aligning it so the delicate piece wasn't smothered by the elaborate folds of fabric. It caught the light, brilliant against the maroon silk.
"Looks nice." He tapped it, once, and smiled at her.
"Thank you." Rocking up onto her toes, she stretched up to kiss him, deep and sweet. "You still manage to surprise me."
"Every chance I get, Princess. You ready to go?"
She ran a hand over her braids one more time, then nodded. "Let's go do this, so we can get back home. I believe you said you had another gift for me, later?"
Kissing her cheek swiftly, his lips brushed past her ear. "I could give it to you now instead."
Clucking at him, this time, she shook her head and headed for the door. "We've got to put in an appearance. Just an hour."
As he looped his arm around her he grinned. "I'm holding you to that."